


Sweet Changes

by DonatellaLoba



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-08-25 21:56:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16669039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DonatellaLoba/pseuds/DonatellaLoba
Summary: Amelia Andrews meets Sweet Pea at the Drive In before it gets shut down a year before her move back to Riverdale. When she finally does move back to Riverdale she finds out Sweet pea isn't the same guy she met nor the same guy he has been with her since she last saw him..





	1. Sweet Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, It's been a long while since I've last written and shared something. Life happens, but here is my very first Riverdale Fic. The minute I saw Sweet Pea I couldn't stop wondering what it would be like if he were to like a girl that ended up being Archie's sister. I know this isn't really set in the right time to go with Season 3 but oh well, its a fic of my own and I'm just going to go with it. I hope you enjoy, please leave feedback it is extremely appreciated. I don't know how many parts will be in this one we'll just see where it goes. Thank you for even clicking on this. Now to the good stuff, Enjoy.

Saturday nights at the Drive-In with my dad and brother was the highlight of my visits to Riverdale. Any time we went we would stop and eat at Pop’s before and the night would be full laughs and the bset memories. I knew my dad always tried to make it fun since the time I got to spend back home was short.

“Hey Li, your turn to get the snacks” Archie tells me, I roll my eyes and get out to get them before the movie started. My dad gave me cash and I told him I would be fine getting them on my own. Archie tried to mess with me by rattling off this long list of snacks he wants, and I flipped him off before I walked off.

 

“Thank you” I say as they bring over the popcorn and last drink. I have already got it all in my arms strategically when someone startles me, “Need help?” I jump and thankfully don’t drop anything but almost drop the bag of sour candies I have dangling from my mouth. I turn and see who scared me, a boy with dark hair and eyes to match that is slightly taller than me in a leather jacket with a smirk on his face which changes to a laugh when he sees the state I’m in. I can feel my face heat up and can’t imagine how bad a blush I have going on.

“I see you have a handle on it,” he says, I nod and walk off before my red face is noticeable to the boy. I don’t even respond to my brother picking on me for how I got the snacks to the car and duck into the backseat, so no one sees me. It takes me almost all the previews and the first half of the movie to forget about the embarrassment.

“So good” I say as the credits start to roll, some cars already left, and my dad had left to go to the bathroom before we took off and I was thinking of doing the same.

“I love these nights” my brother says, I hum in agreement.

“You know, mom asked me the other night if I thought you’d want to move back home” my eyes go wide.

“Seriously? You didn’t-” he shakes his head. We had talked about it a few months ago, how I wanted to come back home. I didn’t want to leave my mom alone in Chicago, but she was always working anyway. Plus, I knew my dad was having issues with money but didn’t want to tell my mom or me. I only knew this because of Archie and he made me promise not to let my dad know I knew.

“she told me that she’s hardly home and you’re closing up in your shell again. She thinks having you move back home will get you back to yourself again” I didn’t disagree with her, neither did Archie from the sounds of it. At least I knew what to expect when I got back to Chicago in a few days, she will sit me down and we will talk it out.

“Well, I’m going to the bathroom before we go” I tell Archie as I open the door and slide out of the car. I see my dad on his way back and let him know that I will be right back. I try not to take too long in there and once the line moves it goes quick.

I’m on my way back when a hand catches my wrist and tugs. I trip over my foot but catch myself before I fall over, and I hear a laugh.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to pull that hard” He says, causing my breath to catch in my throat. I meet his eyes as I right myself and a wave of heat rushes over my face. I barely start to breathe when I realize I didn’t hear a word he said after that.

“I’m sorry, what?” He smiles and repeats himself.

“I was asking what your name is” I look down at my feet and brush my hair out of my face before I look up at him again.

“I’m Lia” I tell him, “I’m Sweet Pea.”

“I’ve never seen you around here before, did you just move here?” He asks, hands in his pockets and shuffles an inch closer to me.

“I ah, no I’m visiting family, I’m only here a few weeks out of the year” I tell him and awkwardly rub my hands together unsure of what to do with them. I mentally scold myself for my outfit choice because of course the day I decide to wear my sweats and a slightly cropped tee and a light sweater thrown over it is the day I meet a cute guy in this town.

“oh, so you’re leaving?” His face kind of dropped and he looked straight into my eyes and I honestly could not form words for a minute.

“I uh, well not unt-”

“Sweets! Let’s go!” I hear someone yell and he looks somewhere behind me and nods waving them off. He digs in his pocket and pulls out a piece of a popcorn bag out of it and holds it out to me.

“Hope I see you soon Lia” I take it and he walks away brushing his shoulder against mine just barely and I stare down at it.

 

His number.

****

“Night dad” my dad closes my door after we say good night and I pull my phone off the charger and text my closest friend in town.

 

**TO Kev:**

**_‘I need your advice, ASAP’_ **

 

Not two seconds later he texts back,

**FROM Kev:**

_‘uh oh, do we need to F2F this or do I need no details?’_

**_‘I’d say Face to face but I need advice now, I met someone at the drive in’_ **

_‘The ONE NIGHT I DON’T GO WTF. DETAILS NOW, maybe I know him’_

**_‘I know his name Kev, he gave he his #’_ **

_‘I’ll be over in 5’_

I sighed at that knowing there is no way I was going to stop Kevin from showing up. I got up and went down stairs to grab some chips and a soda when the door swung open and Kevin ran inside panting.

“Phone, now, upstairs” he pants and runs up the stairs to my room and I hear the thud of him crashing on the ground. I grab an extra soda before following him.

 

“Wow, sounds like a guy from the Southside. So not your type and I love it” he says as I finish telling him about what happened. I’m not worried about Archie hearing, he always leaves to see his girlfriend after we get home from movie nights.

“When should I even message him?”

“why don’t you call?” I give him a look and he hold his hands up, “joking. It’s not super late, why don’t you text him now? See if he’s up?” I bite my lip, on one hand I really want to see if this is really his number on the other hand if it’s his real number I won’t have a clue what to say to him.

“you do it, I can’t” I tell Kevin and hold my phone out to him, his eyes go wide.

“You really want me to?” I nod and hand off my phone, already unlocked and a new message opened to the new number.

After debating with Kev over what was too much and uninterested we settled on sending Sweet Pea a simple message.

**To: Sweet Pea**

**_‘Hey, its Lia’_ **

Once Kevin hit send we set the phone down on my desk and waited. I was finishing the last bit of my soda and Kevin was in the bathroom changing since we figured he should just stay over so he could be with me, when my phone buzzed.

“Kevin!” I yelled as I walked closer to my phone and saw that yes it was a message from him.

“I’m here, what did he say?” he ran into my room and threw his clothes in the corner as he made his way next to me in front of my phone.

**From: Sweet Pea**

_‘I was hoping I’d hear from you’_

I looked over at Kevin with wide eyes, how is this happening? Is this seriously happening? He’s flirting with me.

“Stop it you are not ugly; hello Reggie is still trying to get with you remember?” I made a face.

“Just because the stupid head made a comment about my ass doesn’t mean he was trying to get with me” I said as I started to type out a response to Sweet pea.

“Do you think that is his real name?” Kevin asks, I shrug, it would be strange.

“Probably a nickname” After that the messages kept flowing and Kevin fell asleep at 1 and me and sweet pea kept texting.

**From: Sweet Pea**

_‘Can I call you?’_

I looked over at my friend sleeping and then back to my phone, it wouldn’t hurt. My stomach was twisting from nerves and the butterflies were causing some giddiness, but I took a few breaths and said sure. I didn’t have to wait long before he called. I swiped to answer,

“Hey” I said, trying to keep my voice even and a little above a whisper.

“Hey” he said back.

We kept it short, for a while there it was silent for the most part but then we started talking more, he made me laugh and we made plans to see each other the night before I left.

 

The next morning, I filled Kevin in on when I would be seeing him again and he was over the moon for me. It had been awhile since I talked with anyone mildly interesting. I made plans with Kevin for the day after and spent my time with my dad and Archie made appearances. It was nice, I got to see Betty and Jughead before I left, and Veronica showed up at the house a few times with Arch. Sweet Pea and I texted through the day and talked on the phone at night for a while before bed. On my last day I went with my dad everywhere, I was always extremely clingy the last day there because I knew I wouldn’t get to see him for a while.

“What should we do for dinner tonight sweetie?”

“Pizza?”

“sounds good to me”

“I gotta get going at 7 though, I told Kev to join me at Pop’s before I leave” My dad said alright and we ordered pizza. We watched one of my favorite movies and ate dinner in the living room. I ignored the sad eyes my dad gave me as I finished packing a few minutes before I called Kevin to pick me up to go to Pop’s.

“Be safe, call me if you need a ride home” I hug my dad and tell him I will before I head out.

 

“Thanks Kev”

“I want details, text me if you need a ride home. Doesn’t look like he brought a car” I look around the parking lot and spot a bike hiding behind the few cars in the lot.

“He uh kinda has a motorcycle. It’ll be fine. I’ll let you know when I get home, okay?” His jaw had dropped, and I snickered. I ran off and into Pop’s and I see him sitting in a booth as faraway from the entrance as he could get. He has a plaid shirt on, hair slicked back and looking down at a milkshake in front of him. Before I walk towards him I ask for a chocolate milkshake and fries. As I get closer he hears me and looks up smiling. I smile back, and I feel the heat wash over me again.

“Hey”

“Hey” we say as I slide into the seat across from him, Pop’s brings over my shake and fries and its quiet.

He breaks the silence by asking how my day was with my dad. I tell him how it went, how I felt about leaving. My eyes sting from wanting to cry but I hold it back. Then he changes the subject by telling me about his day with his friends and how school was for him. He hardly talks about family and I don’t ask. We keep talking and he asks the big question,

“So, when will you be back?”

“I’m not sure, it depends on the weather and what my parents decide” He nods understanding. He looks out the window and I can’t resist pulling my phone out and taking a picture, he hardly notices but I still ask,

“Is that ok?” his brow furrows confused as to what I’m asking. I turn my phone to show him the picture I took, a blush rising on my cheeks. He smirks.

“Only if you’re in it” and that is how I end up with 20 photos of us laughing, a few with whipped cream on our faces because he thought it would be funny and I got him back.

“It’s getting late, do you think you could give me a ride home?” I ask and he looks up surprised.

“Yeah I can but-”

“I’m okay with riding a bike, lets go” I tell him as I gather my things and go to the front to pay before he can beat me to it. We walk out and he’s slightly pouting. I tell him I am the one who invited him out, so it was my treat. We get on and he hands me his helmet and take off. I tell him my address and direct him to be safe. We get to my house and he cuts the engine.

“Shit” I hear him say I ask him what happened, but he says nothing, so I leave it alone.

“Thanks for the ride” I tell him as I get off the bike and hand him the helmet. I stand there staring up at him smiling.

“What?” he asks as he looks down at me with a smile tugging at his lips. I reach up and guide his face to mine, I hear his breath hitch and I just pull him into a hug. He huffs out a laugh and I snicker.

“Not where you thought that was going, huh?” I ask, he laughs as he wraps his arms around me tight. He almost lifts me off the ground but then lets up but doesn’t let me go.

“Amelia” I scrunch my face, “Please don’t use my actual name” he laughs and gently runs is finger down the side of my face and pushes my hair behind my ear while doing so.

“Lia then, I can’t believe it’s only been a few days since I met you” he whispers, arms loosely wrapped around my waist. I take a deep breath and lay my head on his chest, listening to his heart.

“I know, I don’t know what to do now” I don’t have to look at his face to know he’s frowning.

“What do you mean?” he asks, I look up at him my eyes stinging with tears.

“I’m just going to miss you is all, how dumb is that? I just met you and I-” He holds my chin in place and shakes his head.

“It’s not dumb, I’m glad I’m not the only one” he whispers and leans down to place a gentle kiss on my lips. After that we stand there holding each other trying to make the time stop, when it doesn’t we let each other go and I kiss him one last time before I head inside.

**From: Sweet Pea**

_‘Beautiful Lia, don’t forget me while you’re gone’_

I reread that message 20 times before I respond,

**To: Sweet Pea**

_**‘Never, goodnight Sweets'** _

I fall asleep with tears going down my cheeks and a smile on my face. No matter what, I hoped my move back to Riverdale would be sooner than later.

 

***** One Year Later*****

 

“Lia c’mon! We’re gonna be late for school!” Archie yells as he passes my room. I groan and finish braiding my hair before I run down after him.

“Why did my first day have to be a Monday?” I ask as I grab a muffin and hug my dad.

“Because that’s just how it worked out. Be safe, help her please Archie” My dad says as we rush around the kitchen grabbing easy breakfasts and I make a face at the mention of helping me.

“Dad I know a few people aside from Archie, I’ll be okay. Don’t forget to pick me up from school today!” I yell the last part as I run out after my brother to his car.

 

We pull up to Riverdale High and I follow Archie into school, I look around and realize I recognize none of the students. The football team is the first cluster of students I see, and I meet Reggie’s eyes.

“Holy Shit, Andrews grew up nice” He says, I look over at my brother whose jaw is already tight.

“Reggie” He puts a hand up.

“Chill Andrews, I’m just messing with your sister. Hey Lia” He tells him, turning to me.

“Touch me and you’ll lose a hand. Let’s go Arch, I still have to get my crap from the office” I tell Reggie then turn to my brother and pull him along by the arm. We get to the office but see Betty and Kevin waiting there with my schedule in hand. They take over and Archie goes to find Veronica. I’m getting my stuff put away in my locker when Kevin kicks me.

“Ow, Kev what the f-” he clears his throat and I look over to where he is looking, and my breath catches in my throat. I can hear my heart beating in my ears and the blood rushing.

Sweet pea, leaning on a locker trapping a girl by her locker and she doesn’t seem to mind it.

“I thought-”

“So did I” I said, barely above a whisper. All the time I wasted thinking I was the only person he was talking to, I’m so stupid. Here I was waiting and keeping it a secret for over a year so I could surprise him, and this is what he was doing. But every night on the phone he’d say I was the only one. How? I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I didn’t have time to try to figure it out. I turned to finish putting my stuff away in my locker and slammed it shut. My whole body was shaking, and I tried so hard to calm down, but before I could disappear with Kevin, he saw me.

 

I didn’t turn, I didn’t move, I stood there and let it sink in for him that I was there. That I was back and for good this time, and he was with some other girl when not even 6 hours ago he was telling me that I was the only one.

 

I stared him down before I turned on my heel and walked down the hall with Kevin to first period.

 

It wasn’t until we got into class that I broke. Kevin hugged me and said he was sorry. That if he knew this was going on he would’ve told me. But it didn’t matter, it wasn’t Kevin’s fault. I was the dumb one who believed a guy I hardly knew. It wasn’t how I pictured the day going at all, but here I was. I pulled my phone out of my bag and saw a text from Sweet pea.

_‘I can explain’_

I shook my head and deleted it. There was nothing to explain.


	2. Amelia, Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lia doesn't really care, but she does. Sweets just wants to talk. Does anyone even know what is going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I hope you enjoy and do not get bored. Here's chapter 2 :)

I manage to get myself together throughout my first period and make it to lunch. I don’t have Kevin by my side, so I find my brother and Veronica sitting with the Bulldogs, I take a deep breath and take a seat next to my brother. Which means I got to sit right next to Reggie.

“How you liking your first day?” Reggie asked, catching the attention of my brother and Veronica.

“It’s been good, its mainly been a blur to be honest” I tell them and looked back down at my food, so I could avoid any other questions.

“Not one class sticks out to you?” Ronnie asks, I look up to face her when I notice behind her Sweet Pea and a few others making their way into the cafeteria. I immediately tuck myself as much as possible behind my brother out of their visibility.

“Uh, Creative writing seems to be the least boring class thus far. Plus Mr. Hagman is the only teacher that didn’t make me stand up and introduce myself and ask me stupid questions” I told her. Archie laughed, he had told me before that I would love that class simply because the teacher was a no bullshit kind of guy. I was still looking forward to my photography class, I missed having time to myself in the dark room.

“He is the best, I had him last year for English II and I actually enjoyed the book discussions” Ronnie said, and I smiled up at her. We kept talking over Archie about our favorite books, overly used plots, and our favorite characters. Reggie decided to sling an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.

“Look at the both of you bonding over books” He said and attempted to kiss my cheek before I shoved him off me.

“What did I say about touching me?” He just smirked.

“Feisty, I’ve missed that” He said and kissed my cheek before I could stop him. I rolled my eyes as everyone laughed. Archie pulled me closer to him and whispered something about Reggie, me and elementary school. I shoved him off me and tried to keep my face from heating up with embarrassment. I just kept eating and didn’t notice Sweet pea get closer until it was too late.

“Hey, SP ready for the game tonight?” Reggie said, and I froze, almost choking on my rice.

“As ready as I’ll ever be” I hear him say. I can feel his gaze on me, but I keep my eyes on my food as I take small bites, waiting for him to move on.

“Well, a beautiful good luck charm is back in town, have you met Lia?” Reggie asks him, patting my arm. Sweets says no, while I grit my teeth and look at Sweet Pea with a fake smile on my face. If I’m going to have to do this I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me the slightest bit sad.

“Lia Andrews, little sister to Archie here” I say as I clap my brother on the back and smirk, hoping to avoid having to shake his hand.

“Nice to meet you. We uh actually have to get going, see you later” He tells us, looking away from me and around to the faces of the team. I don’t pay attention to the crap the team gives him and finish up with my food. I ruffle my brother’s hair and tell Ronnie I’ll catch up with her later before I get out of my seat and toss my tray. I get out of the cafeteria as fast as I can and head towards the library. It doesn’t take long for my phone to go off letting me know I have a text, but I ignore it and text Kevin instead before looking for a few books I need for class. I was reaching for a book on the top shelves while balancing on the step stool when a voice startles me.

 

“Lia” I squeal as I lose my balance but catch myself on the shelf before I topple to the floor. I barely get a moment to catch my breath when I make the mistake of turning and facing him.

 

He’s wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, silver rings on his fingers, a few bracelets on his wrists and his tattoo covered with a couple band aids. His eyes looked sad and he seemed nervous, but he doesn’t break eye contact with me. I hadn’t noticed how far back in the library I had gone until I looked around and realized we were hidden behind the book shelves.

 

“Leave me alone Sweet pea” I say as I step down from the stool and add the book to the pile I left on the ground.

“Amelia pl-”

“Don’t, I don’t have time for this” I tell him as I pick my books up and sling my bag over my shoulder. I try to walk past him, but he reaches out and tugs me back gently by my wrist. Sighing, I turn to face him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” The anger bubbled inside me at the question.

“Sorry I didn’t let you know soon enough so you could pretend like you aren’t some promiscuous asshole. Maybe I wanted to surprise you, but jokes on me, right? We done here?” I tell him and pull my wrist out if his hold.

“No, you never said you’d be back and-” I turned to face him, fuming.

“So, because I wasn’t coming back any time soon you figured you’d find yourself a distraction until I did come back? What the hell Sweets?! We agreed we would let the other know if there was someone else! You never said anything! Hell, you and I were making plans for over the summer like some kind of stupid couple!” I exclaimed, the anger and hurt was getting to me and I didn’t notice him flinch back at my words. I took a few steps away from him and took a few deep breaths, I was not going to cry in front of him.

“Let me explain pleas-” I shook my head.

“No,” I said coldly, “but you can answer three questions” I looked up at him, eyes stinging with tears.

“Have you been talking to or seeing other girls since we made our little agreement?”

He held my gaze for a moment before he looked down at his feet and nodded.

“Were you **_ever_** going to tell me about them?” He shook his head.

“Were you flirting with that girl I saw you with?” I saw his eyes get glassy with tears, but I held my ground. My heart broke with every answer, but this last nod of his head did me in. I shook my head, I felt the tears falling down my cheeks, I barely heard myself say I didn’t want to see him again before I walked away. I wiped away my tears, left my books on a random shelf and ran out of there.

***

 

“I really don’t want to go” I tell Kevin as I take my hair out of the braid I had it in and pull my hair back into a ponytail.

“As much as I hate what he did to you and I would like you to avoid him as much as possible, I will not allow you to miss out on any high school experiences. Especially because our friends are expecting us to be there to support them” He adds the last bit and I groan. I had promised Betty I would be at the next home basketball game supporting the River vixens and Archie. I had agreed to it because I had just gotten here and stupidly thought my reunion with Sweet Pea would’ve gone better. I knew there was no way I’d live it down if I didn’t go, so I went.

“I can’t believe your taste in footwear has not changed” Kevin says as we make our way up in the bleachers and find seats. I glance down at my nikes and frown, there is nothing wrong with comfort.

“Look would you rather me be capable of walking and comfortable or falling all over the place and complaining all the time because my feet hurt?” he looks over at me, “I love your shoes.” I grin at him and take a bite out of my pretzel. I keep ripping piece after piece of pretzel, dipping it into my cheese, while the team warms up on the court. When the River Vixens come out we wave to the girls and I give Betty and Ronnie a thumbs up.

When the half time buzzer goes off my throat is sore from yelling at the team, so I decide to go get a drink before the line gets longer.

“Here hold my nachos” I hand them off to Kevin and quickly make my way down the bleachers and out into the hallway towards the concessions. I hear giggling and notice a few girls point towards the boys’ locker room and I notice some of the boys are out getting drinks and talking to a group of girls. I notice Ronnie and my brother off to the side of them, I quickly skim over the group and Sweet pea is no where to be seen. I finally get to the front and order my drink and another pretzel, then make my way over to Archie and Ronnie.

“Hey Arch, Ronnie” They both smile at me, still holding each other.

“I didn’t know you were such a basketball fan Lia” Ronnie says as she pulls away slightly from my brother.

“Li’s sport _is_ basketball, I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten down on the court to yell at us” Archie tells her and smirks at me, I roll my eyes.

“Yeah and sadly Riverdale doesn’t have a girls’ team so all I get to do is watch and kick Archie’s ass at it when we play at home” I tell them and shove my brother, Ronnie shakes her head and huffs out a laugh.

“Damn, and here I thought you’d become a Vixen Andrews” I purse my lips in annoyance before turning to face Reggie.

“Nope, sorry to disappoint. But I can kick your ass in basketball if you’d like” I smirk crossing my arms over my chest, he smiles.

“I’ll pass,” its my turn to full on grin.

“Scared?” He snorts.

“No, I know how good you are Andrews. I always picked you for my team back in elementary school, remember?” I feel the heat rise to my cheeks thinking about the last time I played on that court with Reggie.

“Who could forget those games” Archie pipes in and smacks at my shoulder laughing. I turn around and flip him off, but I see Sweet Pea from the corner of my eye and he’s making his way over to us. Heat pools in my stomach with the anger and pain building just from seeing him.

“Coach wants us back in the locker room” He says when he makes it to our group. I turn and tell my brother to actually play and Reggie to stop being a ball hog, so they could kick ass.

“Please relay the message to the team. I can come to next practice and hand your asses to you if you’d like” I tell them and hip-check Reggie, laughing. I notice a slight blush reach his cheeks as he smirks at me and says he’ll let them know but the squeak of Sweet Pea’s sneakers catches my attention as he storms off.

“Well maybe we will do better, see you ladies later” Me and Ronnie wish them good luck before she gets called back too. I head up to my seat and fill Kevin in. The rest of the game I spend yelling a little less and discussing what to do after we get out of here, Kevin want to go to some after party one of the Vixen’s is having and I just want to go home.

“C’mon you need a little fun” I just stare at him.

“I wasn’t at some catholic school Kev, I went to public school in Chicago. The few friends I did make introduced me to some shit drugs at dumb parties and the last few months I was there we had fake ID’s and hit up all the bars and clubs we could think of” His jaw dropped.

“How did you not tell me any of this” I shrugged. I kept my home life and my life in Riverdale separate, I didn’t like them to overlap. The less anyone knew the better for me.

“Details!” He says, so I tell him a few stories before the end of the game. At the end of just about each story his jaw dropped and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“C’mon, let’s go, I need to witness Lose Lia” I scrunch my face at the ‘nickname’ Kev gave me.

“Please never say that again, and if I go home drunk, my dad will never let me hang out with you again” he waves off my attempt to get out of going, “As if, as long as you get home your dad will always let you out with me,” he states and winks at me.

“Let’s go party” I groan, but I follow him out of the gym and away from the crowd around the team. What I fail to notice is the eyes that follow me as I make my way out.

 

**

“Kev wait,” I exclaim as I quickly follow him up into the house. He waits for me and takes my phone from my hand. “What the he-”

“I want a before picture of us, I’m sure we’ll end up taking drunken crap selfies later” So we stand there and take a few pictures on my phone before he hands it back to me and holds my gaze.

“What?” I ask him, my brow furrowing.

“Well, you know who’s throwing this party, right?” I nod, Cheryl. I had only met her a handful of times and Kevin mentioned her here and there.

“Yeah, Cheryl is dating Toni” I nod because I knew that too thanks to—

“Fuck my life” is all I say when I realize what he’s trying to tell me, Sweet Pea will be here if any serpent is here, especially one of his closest friends.

I mentally prepare myself for what is on the other side of the door as we let ourselves in. It’s dark with different colored lights filling the room, music is blaring from the speakers and I drag Kevin with me to what I assume is the kitchen in search of alcohol and not looking anywhere else.

I hear our names being called but I grab two cups and mix something up for both of us before I turn to see who got Kevin’s attention. I hand him his cup and down mine in 10 seconds especially after seeing it’s Betty and Jughead that found us. I push down the nerves of knowing Sweet Pea and Co. are probably not too far behind.

We chat with Betty and Jug for awhile catching up after Jug gives me crap for starting to drink so quickly. I flip him off and down my second concoction before making another. Betty asks me how classes are going and tells me she wishes we had more classes together. It’s when me and Betty are talking too much about school that Kevin decides to tell them all about what I actually did when I lived in Chicago. Jughead gives me an incredulous look but smirks, he’s seen me knock back a few but Betty looks downright shocked and smacks my arm lightly.

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing” She yells towards me and I shake my head, “That’s the same thing I said when I heard about Dark Betty AND that you pole danced on southside” I yelled back and lightly bumped her with my hip before pulling her away from Jug by the waist. I had her back to my front and I did my best to slither like a snake. She smacked at my hand and jumped away while the rest of us laughed. I kept downing my drinks and made Jughead take a shot with me, his first of the night and my third.

I start to notice the alcohol taking effect when my face slowly starts to feel numb and my body starts to get warm. It was then that Arch and Veronica found us amongst the crowd, the music seemed louder and people were still packing into the house. Thankfully by then everyone had stopped talking about my time outside of Riverdale and resumed normal conversation. Jug and Archie had their own conversation going about Southside and Northside finally getting along, while the rest of us talked booze, school and boys.

“C’mon not one guy has gotten your attention?” Ronnie asked while Kevin pretended to not know exactly who I had on my mind and Betty raised an eyebrow as if to echo her question.

“It’s not like I’m looking for someone. Plus, how do you think Big Brother will take it if he sees me get near any guy? He talks to just about everyone in this place” I yelled as I took a swig from my beer.

“Oh please, leave your brother to me. What about Reggie?” Veronica had a glint in her eye I wasn’t exactly okay with. Sober me would’ve shot that down the minute the words left her mouth, but tipsy me? That gave me ideas. I chugged the rest of my beer and wiped off any drops that didn’t fully make it into my mouth with the back of my hand. I scanned the room as quickly as I could looking for him, but I didn’t see him. I heard someone yell, but I didn’t hear what they said.

“What?!” I turned and saw it had come from Betty. Instead of yelling again, she got closer to me and repeated herself, cupping my ear, so I couldn’t miss her words.

“He’s over in the next room” I nodded and thanked her. I looked from the girls to my brother and Jug, both boys were overly protective of me so if I was even going to attempt to talk to a guy, even just for fun, they couldn’t witness it. They got the message and gave me a knowing look before they both wrapped themselves around their boyfriends. I smirked as I waved Kevin over to my side when I tripped on nothing. I caught myself on Kevin and he helped me straighten up and I could feel the laughter bubble over and I couldn’t stop.

“You good Li?” Kevin yells for me to hear but I nod as my laughter dies down. I look around and see the hostess and her girlfriend, Toni playing beer pong against Sweet Pea and who I can only assume is Fangs, I freeze in my spot causing Kevin to backtrack. I’m sure he was about to ask what was wrong when he spotted them. I shake my head and close my eyes, trying to mentally shake it off but when I grab Kevin’s arm ready to keep pushing through the crowd, he grabs my hand and pulls me towards that group. By now the warmth of the alcohol has spread through my body, my face in numb and I things are slightly blurry. The panic I was waiting to hit doesn’t, in its place is the confidence that could either have this encounter go extremely well or incredibly horrible.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t Amelia Andrews” I smile at Cheryl, I never really spent time around Cheryl and her brother while I lived in Riverdale. I had only seen her a handful of times after everything that happened with her brother and then her whole family. She had it rough. Since Archie saved her life anytime she would see me she was nothing but extremely sweet. She handed her ping pong ball over to Toni and rushed up to us, embracing me. Toni gave me a once over before tossing her ball into the last cup across from her and walking over to stand next to Cheryl. I hardly realize that there are dark eyes on me as I greet the girls.

“Toni, this is Archie’s sister, Amelia”

“Call me Lia, please” I interject, Toni nods and smiles at me.

“Nice to meet you, so you’re Andrews’ younger sister?” She asks, I nod. She waves over the boys and I take a deep breath, stepping closer to Kevin. Toni introduces them to me, I smile and avoid making direct eye contact with either. Fangs looks way to interested to not know about me and Sweet pea and I don’t want anyone saying anything. While I look around hoping to find a distraction, I finally see him. My out.

I excuse myself from the group and promise to find Cheryl later on and take off into the crowd towards my goal. I take a quick detour and grab a shot before continuing on until I reach him. I come up to him from behind and squeeze myself in front of him.

“Whoa! Hey Lia” He says with a giant grin on his face looking down at me. I can smell the alcohol and weed on his breath and smile up at him.

“Hey yourself, why are you here alone?” I ask him, he laughs and goes on to tell me how his boys slowly started to disappear on him as the night went on. As he talks, I noticed someone walk passed with their arms full of cups, I grabbed one and started to drink it, causing Reggie to raise an eyebrow teasingly. At this point I took that as a challenge and tossed my head back finishing off the drink.

“Little Andrews isn’t so innocent anymore” He yells, getting closer to my ear so I can hear over the music. I playfully roll my eyes at the comment. I grab the collar of his shirt pulling his ear closer, so I can respond.

“Haven’t been for a while Reg. Wanna dance?” I say, but I’m sure it comes out way more slurred than I think.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he says, but lets me lead him a little more into the crowd before I let the music take over. His hands land on my waist as we twist and move getting pushed closer together by the movement of the crowd. My balance starts to go off and his grip on me tightens to keep me upright, but before I can even thank him for doing so, I feel myself ripped away from the warmth of the crowd.

“What the f—”

“What the hell are you doing?!” My anger spikes as I realize it was my brother who pulled me off to the side. Veronica is right behind him with apologetic eyes.

“We were just dancing Arch, let me go!” I yell back at him. Thankfully the music drowns out the yells, so no one knows there is any drama at all. I can barely hear what I am saying at this point, but I don’t need to as I turn and push my way through the crowd to get as far away from my brother. I run up the stairs and make my way into a room, slamming the door closed behind me. The only illumination in the room comes from the moonlight shining in through the window, the music is muffled, and I can hear my heart beating in my ears.

“Lia?” I jump at the sound, causing me to frantically look around trying to spot where it came from. I spot him sitting on the edge of the bed. I don’t say a word as I walk towards him, mainly because I’m using all my focus on not tipping over as I watch my feet. Once I get too close, I drop onto the bed and lay my head on his shoulder.

“I wanted to tell you, I really wish I had” I whisper to him, closing my eyes.

“What you saw that day—” I put my hand to his mouth to stop him from saying more. I don’t care at this point, not when he’s real, and _beautiful_ and **_right next to me_**. I don’t know who moved first but the kiss is slow and gentle, but I push closer to him, deepening the kiss. He makes a noise of shock but doesn’t hesitate in pushing back. I can barely think, between the alcohol finally getting to me and the feel of Sweet pea’s hands on me everything becomes fuzzy and fast. I can hear his voice, but I can’t make out the words he’s saying. My hands have a mind of their own as I shove his jacket off and start to unbutton his shirt.

I can feel what is going on but by now the alcohol has hit me full force.

 

**

 

Day light is too bright as I slowly crack my eyes open with a groan. My head is already pounding I immediately reach up to hold it. I stare up at the ceiling, it’s an off white and peeling slightly. I can hear some chatting going on outside and the sound of a car passing by when I realize I’m not home.

I shoot up into a sitting position looking around the room, its small with nothing more than a bed, a dresser and a bed side table. There’re clothes on the ground and a couple of dishes scattered around the room. I look down at myself and realize I’m only wearing a plain black T-shirt. My heart is racing and picks up speed when I notice I’m not alone in the bed. I turn to the side and see Sweet pea.

A shirtless sweet pea, with hickeys scattered along his neck.

 

**Shit.**

 

My heart is beating fast, but I get out of the bed as quickly and quietly as I can. I locate my pants and phone before I dart down the hall to find a door to get out of here before Sweet Pea wakes up. I look around and find myself in what looks like the living room and see my shoes by the door. I shove my feet into them as I call Kevin.

“H’lo?”

“Kev, wake up, I have no clue where I’m at and I need a ride home, now” I whisper into the phone frantically and I hear shuffling on his end. He asks me to send him a pin of my location, so he can pick me up. I pull up my location and realize I’m on Southside; at what can only be Sweet Pea’s home.

**Fuck.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3: Sweet Pea's Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see what happened that night, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted this sooner and for how short this is. I'm already struggling with this one. Hopefully you enjoy it.

*Sweet Pea’s POV*

I close the door to the room and sigh. The door muffles the sound of the music and loud conversations and as I walk closer to the bed it gets quieter. I can breathe better as I lay down and shut my eyes, hands over my face. All I can imagine is her dancing and having fun with Kevin, her head thrown back laughing at something they’ve said. I remember how in awe I was when I first saw her at the drive in, the determined look on her face as she held all the snacks and drinks, she had gotten for her and her family. Her blush as I talked to her the first time, after our first kiss.

I hadn't thought it would happen, but I remember the flutter of butterflies in my stomach when I saw the photos she had gotten of me at the diner. Then again when she pulled me closer to her and the erratic beating of my heart when our lips finally touched. To think that moment only lasted 5 seconds if that, it was the memory I clung to on the hard days after she had left. There were always times between seeing her that I would think maybe I made her up, or that she wouldn't be coming back at all.

The first time she appeared back in Riverdale after she gave me the best few days of my life, things were slightly different. We had been texting nonstop since she left, and she never told me when she would be back in town, she’d just surprise me. This time, she found me outside of southside high. She had gotten a ride from her brother under the lie of wanting to surprise Jughead.

“Not a lie, I just took a little detour” She smirked up at me as I took her in. I always thought I was dreaming when she would show up. I’d have her to myself for a few hours each day she could get away in the two weeks she spent in Riverdale. She was always smiling wide and her hair color always changing. The first time I met her it was red, now it was purple streaks that colored her brown hair. It was the first time she saw where I lived, and she stayed until Kevin came to pick her up.

The second time, she showed up at my front door and asked if I was ready for a sleepover. I stared at her in shock, afraid of what to answer. She held up her bag. It was filled with snacks, face masks and her top three favorite movies. We spent the night talking, laughing as we watched the movies and shared snacks after she took photos of us in sheet masks. After the movies we laid in bed holding hands and whispering about our fears and dreams. Her scent intoxicated me and after she fell asleep on my chest. I kept playing with her hair even after she fell asleep, still telling her things she wouldn’t hear.

The third visit was the last time she was here, it was only one day I spent with her that visit. She spent the night, we ate dinner and we talked. That night I held her tighter as she whispered about all that was going wrong back home, how she wished she could just stay here and be there for her dad. Archie was losing himself to his new girlfriends’ family. I was angry for her, but I had no place other than the one I had holding her. We never talked about what we were to each other, not in person. We didn’t want to ruin the small amount of time we had in the small visits. That night I laid on her chest, pulling her close to me as she ran her hand through my hair, putting me to sleep.

I rub the heel of my palms into my eyes and I shake the memories from my brain. I blink up at the ceiling, the illumination from the moon making the room look grey. I should’ve never listened to my stupid friends, things would’ve been fine—

“Shit” I hear as the door to the room is pulled open, I grit my teeth as I prepare to tell whatever drunk-sloppy couple ready to go at it like a pair of rabbits to get out. But there’s only one person, and she takes my breath away. It feels like an hour passes before I choke out her name.

“Lia?”

I watch as she struggles to find her footing as she closes the door behind her. She looks around for the source of the sound and finds me. She slowly makes her way towards me. I can tell she’s had too much to drink and I drop my hand as I realize I’m reaching out to help her, my hand balls up into a fist. She gets close and plops down next to me sighing and lays her head on my shoulder—I freeze. I flex my hands trying to shake the itch to wrap my arms around her and pull her closer.

“I wanted to tell you, I really wish I had” She says softly and I have to hold my breath to hear her. My mouth goes dry.

“What you saw that day—” I feel her hand on my mouth, stopping me from talking. We sit there like this for what feels like hours, the only sound I can hear is my heart beating in my ears and her breathing. She lifts her head from my shoulder and stares at me, hand still on my mouth. I don’t know who moved first but the kiss is slow and gentle, she pushes closer to me, deepening the kiss. I make a noise of shock but don’t hesitate in pushing back and placing my hand behind her head to pull her closer. It gets heated fast, before I can register it happening, she is straddling my lap and licking into my mouth. My hands automatically hold her hips. I keep her in place and try to say something as I pull away from her mouth, but she latches onto my neck, sucking and licking. She shoves my jacket off and has half the buttons undone on my shirt before I finally break the silence.

I notice her eyes are still closed and her breathing is slightly heavier. I gently lift her chin to see her face.

“Li?” She hums in response, blinking up at me.

“As much as I’d love to continue this—”

“Can I go home with you?” my mouth falls open in shock, we sit in silence staring at one another, but I finally answer her, yes. She tells me she doesn’t want to see her brother, as I try to figure out how to get her out of here without any of our friends spotting us. I may be falling for Lia, but I know she doesn’t want any of our friends knowing about us. The only person that does know is Kevin. I have her put my jacket on and I hold her to my side as we make our way out the closest door, we are thankfully covered by the groups of people dancing.

I mentally thank Toni for making me drive everyone over in my truck. I help Lia in before making my way around and starting it. We head to the southside and ride in silence. She is leaned against the window, humming along to the radio with her eyes closed and pulling my jacket tighter around her. We get home and I help her get down and into my home in silence. She lays on the couch and I take her shoes off for her and place them on the mat next to the door. I go into the kitchen and grab two glasses of water and some crackers, I hope it will be enough to lessen the hangover she will have tomorrow.

“Pea?” I hear her groan out, I rush into the living room and she’s sitting up holding her mouth. I hurry and pull her with me to the bathroom and sit outside of it while she throws up. Once the sounds stop, I walk in and grab mouth wash out of the cabinet and clean her mouth off.

“Thank you” She whispers and takes the mouth wash from me. I leave her to clean up and go into my room to get some space from her. My heartbeat is faster than usual, and the panic is settling in. I change from jeans to pajama bottoms and an old worn out T-shirt. As I finish tugging my shirt on, I notice she is standing in the doorway watching me.

“Hey” I say, my cheeks heat up at how stupid it sounded, but she answers back. I watch her bite her lip before she pushes forward and walks up to me. I look down at her and meet her eyes, slightly blood shot, her skin paler than usual and her hair is all over the place, the dark brown and blue hair tangled. I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding when she reaches up and cups my cheek, my eyes close at the touch.

“I’ve missed you” She whispers, I open my eyes slowly and meet hers. I examine her face and notice slightly more freckles than the last time I saw her, make up smudged under her eyes.

“I’ve missed you too” I respond and gently pull her closer by her waist. I can hear her breathing get quicker. She takes a step closer and tilts her head up; I dip my head down and brush my lips against hers, hesitantly asking her if its okay. She deepens the kiss, and I take that and run. For what feels like a few seconds, we are a mess of heavy breathing and hands roaming. I turn us around and sit on the bed, she climbs onto my lap and straddles it as she holds my face between her hands. My hands automatically grip her waist and I pull her as close to my body as I can get her. She pulls away and before I can mourn the loss, she lifts her shirt up over her head and throws it to the side, leaving her is nothing but a simple black bra. I only have a moment to admire her before we are kissing again. We move up the bed and I lose my shirt along the way. I let my hands shakily make their way down her waist and notice she is only in her underwear, and I pull away.

“Li, hold on” I tell her as she kisses and nibbles her way down my neck and to my chest. I hiss at the stinging from her bites and close my eyes. Hand tangled in her hair as she leaves a trail of marks on my neck and chest. I gently tug her head back up to meet my lips. I hold her face with both my hands and savor the taste of her on my lips, my tongue and the bitter taste of alcohol has me pulling back. Her face is flush, and her lips slightly swollen and her eyes still closed. She may not feel sick right now, but she is still drunk.

“Hey, let’s just get to bed, yeah?” I ask her softly, and her face falls, she quickly gets off me and I can see her trying to cover herself. I gently bring her hands down from covering herself and bring them to my lips. I kiss each hand and pull her to my chest, kissing the top of her head.

“Lia, I just want to hold you, is that okay?” I whisper to her, she stays quiet but nods and tightens her grip around me. I reach down beside the bed to grab my shirt and offer it to her, she doesn’t hesitate to take it and slip it on. I lay back down and tug her with me, her head on my chest. my heart still pounding in my chest at the thought of how quickly tonight escalated. I look down at her and she’s already asleep. My hands are shaky, but I push her hair back out of her face and take in the sight.

 

“I think I’m falling in love with you” I say, barely above a whisper, pulling her closer to me before I close my eyes and fall asleep.

 

*********

 

I wake up to an empty bed, my heart falls to my stomach and I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I don’t know why but I jump out of bed with the sliver of hope that she is in the kitchen or bathroom, but she isn’t. I fall back against the hallway wall and slide down to the ground, letting the tears fall.

“Fuck” I shout and punch a hole in the wall. Standing up I make my way to my room and wipe the tears from my face. I grab my pants off the ground and grab my phone, no new notifications.

I pull up a new text to Lia, I stare at the words on the screen for 10 minutes before I hit send. I get ready, grab a snack and head out the door to Lia’s house.


	4. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after a crazy night is always interesting.

“Thanks for letting me stay for breakfast, it was delicious” I tell Kevin’s dad. He’s always been nice to me and a little too trusting when it comes to me and Kevin hanging out.

“I’m glad you could join us. I feel like I hardly ever see you two anymore” Kevin’s dad tells us as he starts clearing the table; Kevin and I help him out. We all clean up the kitchen and put the leftovers away. I say my farewell to Tom Keller as I gather my things and head out to Kevin’s car. I grab my phone and I see I have 3 new messages and a missed call from my dad.

“Shit”

“What is it?” Kevin asks. I show him the screen and immediately call my dad.

“Hey dad what’s up? I was eating breakfast with—”

“Amelia get home, now. We’ll talk when you get here” Is all he says and hangs up. I pull the phone away from ear and look at it in shock.

“What’d he say? Is he mad?” I shuffle into Kevin’s car careful not to close the door on my purse and shake my head.

“No, I don’t know. He just said to get home, now” I tell him as I hurry to get to my new messages. I have two from Archie and one from Sweet Pea. I click on the most recent, Archie’s.

A: _‘Sis did you stay at Kev’s?’_

A: _‘Li, what the hell?! A serpent?’_

No, no, no, NO.

The panic already hit, and my heart beat was going crazy as I clicked on the message from Sweets.

SP: ‘ _We need to talk, I’m coming over’_

“Step on it Kev” I tell him he looks at me confused.

“Sweet pea is at my house”

“Oh shit,” He says and frantically puts the car in drive, we take off but I don’t look to see where we are at as we go, I just look down at my phone and hope my dad and Archie keep their cool.

 

“Thanks Kev, I’ll call you later” I tell him and quickly get out of the car, I spot the familiar bike out front and it looks normal, like it isn’t out of place.

“It’ll be okay Li. Do you want me to wait around the block?” I shake my head but thank him. I had told Kevin what I could remember of the night. How after Archie made that scene about me dancing with Reggie, I ran up stairs and somehow ended up finding Sweet pea in one of the rooms; but everything after that was fuzzy. I say bye to Kevin and run up the steps to the door and rush in. I hang my sweater and purse up behind the door and realize no one is in the kitchen, maybe the living room then.

“Dad?” I question as I slowly walk towards the living room.

“In here” I hear him say and follow his voice into the living room. He’s sitting there taking a sip from his coffee cup on the couch.

Across from Sweet Pea.

I gulp.

 

“Hey guys” I say and wave awkwardly. I finally put my hand down and assess the situation. Sweet Pea hardly moves, he looks up at me with an apologetic and slightly scared expression, but he was trying to hide the second.

My dad on the other hand seemed cool, but I knew he was at least upset on the inside. I don’t think Sweet Pea showing up out of the blue with at least 3 visible love bites and no clue who the heck this boy is looking for his daughter. He looks like everything my dad wants me to steer clear of.

The motorcycle probably didn’t help either.

“Take a seat Lia. We’ve had an interesting morning, haven’t we Sweet Pea?” My dad says and I take a few seconds trying o figure out where to sit before carefully sitting next to Sweet Pea. He nods and doesn’t look anyone in the eye. He fixates on the coffee table between us and my dad.

“How so?” I ask, afraid of what the answer may be.

“Archie had a few colorful words to say to him after he saw I invited him in to wait for you. It’s why your brother isn’t here, I sent him to cool off and so I could talk with Sweet Pea here” I risk a look at Sweet Pea, but he hasn’t taken his eyes off the coffee table. I bite my lip then look back up to my dad.

“Why would Arch have an issue with Sweets?” I hear myself say out loud and both my dad and Sweets look at me. I shrug at both because I honestly don’t know. I know Archie is weird about people, but I didn’t even know Archie knew Sweet Pea.

“I’m sure he can tell you later, what I want to know is why this young man is here looking for you Lia?” I fiddle with my hands as I try to figure out what and how to explain to my dad that me and Sweets are friends and to remember what he told me about not judging a book by its cover. I also have no clue what Sweets has already told my dad or where the hell me and him even stand. So, I take a deep breath and try to tell my dad a shorter version of the truth.

“I met him the last time we had family movie night at the drive in. I’ve talked to him since then. Honestly, he was another big reason I wanted to move back to Riverdale. You know how hard it was for me to make friends in Chicago. He’s here looking for me because I hadn’t contacted him and I’m sure he found out I was back in town and wanted to see for himself, right Pea?” I tell my dad and pat Pea’s thigh, startling him but he looks from me to my dad and nods.

“Alright, I’ll believe it for now. I’ll leave you two to catch up” My dad says and gets up from the couch, coffee cup in hand and shaking his head. He clears his throat and makes his way up the stairs to his room. I wait until I hear his door close before I speak.

“What the hell were you thinking just showing up like this?” I hiss at him with a hard glare. He has no right to show up whenever he feels like it. I knew eventually we would have to talk but I was hoping it would be after I could figure out how to avoid this all.

He’s taken aback by my tone, but his face hardens, and he scoots closer to me.

“I woke up and you were gone, what was I supposed to do?” I roll my eyes.

“Not show up on my doorstep!”

“I wasn’t going to play the waiting game Li—”

“I don’t even know what we have to discuss. I don’t even remember what happened last night!” He shuts his mouth and looks at me.

“you don’t?” his voice is soft, eyes sad. I shake my head and his face falls. I don’t wait for him to say something.

“What happened after we kissed at the party Sweets?” He looks up, unsure. I give him a look of, ‘what are you waiting for?’ He puts his hands up in surrender.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know if you will please let me explain what happened when you first got here” I groan but agree. I motion for him to follow me as I grab my sweater and yell up the stairs to my dad.

“I’ll be back later!” I push Sweet pea out the door before I can hear what my dad says in response and follow him to his bike. He helps me on, and we take off. I don’t realize where we are going but I should’ve known he was headed to Pop’s. When he cuts the engine, I smack his back.

“Ow, what the—”

I point towards the truck, my dad’s truck, meaning my brother is here. I pull off the helmet and hold it. He hasn’t told me what the issues are between him and my brother but obviously it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to be around him right now.

“Fuck. Should we head to my place?” He asks getting ready to swing back on. I shake my head and hand him the helmet.

“Are you going to tell me what the issue is between you guys? Because I’m sure if you don’t tell me right now, I’ll find out the minute we walk in there” I say as I cross my arms over my chest and raise my brow at him. He sighs and gets off the bike, knowing he isn’t getting out of this one.

“Serpents and Bulldogs got into a street fight, but your brother started it. He showed up on Southside and pulled a gun on me and a few of the guys. Not a big deal” He tells me as he puts the helmet back and makes his way around the bike to me. I stare at him in complete shock. What the hell?

“Excuse me? No big Deal?!? What is wrong with you guys? Where the hell did my brother get a gun? Was anyone hurt? When did—”

“Lia, it was months ago, a few injuries nothing serious and I have no clue where he got it. Serpents don’t take kindly to being threatened on their turf okay?” I drag my hands down my face, how is this nothing to him?

“Do you forget that I am in an actual gang?” He states and points to the back of his jacket that has the symbol for the Serpents. I roll my eyes and swear.

“Just shut up already, lets get in there and get the unavoidable confrontation done with my brother” I tell him as we bump hands making our way into the diner. The minute the bell jingles letting everyone know there are new customers in my brother stands up. I grab a hold of Sweet Pea’s hand, shocking him, and tug him towards a booth on the other end of the diner.

“Lia what the hell—”

“Keep your voice down Arch and watch the language. You may be older, but you have no manners” I tell him as I stand between him and Sweet Pea. I dropped his hand the minute I realized Archie wasn’t going to waste any time. I wasn’t going to let this get out of hand, all I wanted to do was get answers from Sweets and hopefully figure out what the hell we are to each other.

“Cut the crap, what are you doing with him?” I lift an eyebrow at my brother, shocked at his tone towards me. I reach back and grab Pea’s hand and pull him so he’s closer.

“He’s my boyfriend so back off. Unless you want me to tell dad a stupid fight broke out because of you” I glare at my brother unable to keep the anger from my words.

“I’m just looking out for you, none of the serpents are good news” He says with a disgusted face. I roll my eyes at him.

“I don’t need you or anyone looking out for me. Just like I didn’t need you last night either, so go back to your food and leave me and Sweets alone” I turn and tell Pea to get in the booth and I sit down next to him so he can’t get out. I watch as he glares at my brother’s back, he sauntered off to the booth he was in with Veronica. She turns to look at me and waves, I return the gesture and focus on the guy next to me.

“You okay?” I nod, then I give my order to the waitress with my palms sweaty from the realization that I told my brother that Sweet Pea is my boyfriend in front of Sweet Pea.

And I told my dad we were just friends. I groan and drop my face into my hands on the table. I hear Sweets chuckle, but I wait for him to say something. He doesn’t, not until the waitress comes back and awkwardly places the food and drinks around my head. I hear him thank her before he taps on my shoulder.

“I’m not okay” I tell him and laugh bubbles out of him.

“I figured as much, **_girlfriend_** ” He responds before shoving fries into his mouth and taking a long drink from his shake, “What was that about anyway?” I shrug, I honestly don’t know why I said it, I just did.

“I don’t mind it” He says, tone rid of amusement and I finally lift my head off the table.

“Sweets it hasn’t even been three days since I saw you flirting with some other girl. We can’t” I avoid his eyes and grab my burger, taking a giant bite out of it.

“It honestly was not what it looked like” He holds his hand up to keep me from interrupting him, takes a look around at the few people around us, before continuing with his explanation.

“My friend’s family needs help. I’ve been helping northside girls make their exes, or whoever, jealous and getting paid for it. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know how. I also didn’t want you to think less of me. I’m a serpent Li, how else can I get paid without getting into some serious shit?” I nod, letting his words process in my brain, taking in the explanation. I understand him, if it were Kev who needed help, I’d do whatever I could to help him scrape some cash together. On the other hand, it still hurts. Part of me thinks he could be lying to me or has been lying to me. Before I can even get a word out, Sweets is pulling out his phone and a wallet.

“I’ll show you” He says, clicking open a conversation in his texts and showing me.

JM: It worked, thank you so much!

SP: I’m glad, when can I get the other half?

JM: It’ll be in the same spot for you in the A.M

 

“Here’s the cash” He cracks open his wallet and shows me a few hundred dollars tucked behind his school ID. I look up at his face and, nothing but genuine concern written on his face.

“I’m sorry” I tell him. No matter how much I want to believe he hurt me, I can’t deny the gut feeling that he is being honest with me about this whole thing.

“I wouldn’t do something like that to you Lia, I couldn’t” He tells me softly and puts his stuff back in his pockets. He lifts a hand up to caress my cheek and I smile shyly at him. I scan over his face and my eyes flicker down to look at the small bite marks he has on his neck and the two trying to peak out from his shirt on his chest. I can feel the heat growing on my face and I clear my throat before taking a sip from my shake.

I can tell he knows exactly what I was looking at when his blush appears on his cheeks, he rubs the back of his neck and takes a couple bites of his food.

“So, last night” He starts, and I choke on my spit. He pats my back and I wave him off, taking another drink from my shake.

“I don’t know if we should talk about this in public” He bites his lip.

“I don’t know if I could tell you in private after last night” Is what I hear come out of his mouth and my eyes widen in shock and I scoot away from him, hands covering my mouth as I suck in a breath. He realizes how what he said sounded and, “NO! no not that” He says quickly and looks down at his food slightly embarrassed at how loud he had been.

“can we go back to your place to discuss this?” I ask him as I finish up my shake and I looked at him. He nodded. We finished up and left, I waved bye to veronica and ignored my brothers glare as we headed out.

The ride there was short, and when we pulled up to his home, I jumped off the bike handed over the helmet and followed him up the 4 four steps to his door. I was nervous but I wanted to know what the hell happened.

I sat down on the couch and made myself comfortable. When he finally sat down next to me, he told me what happened. I listened, feeling my face get hotter as he continued because I could remember more as he explained. Once he finished with waking up to me gone there was silence. I was curled in on myself as I processed it all.

“I’m sorry” He says softly, he has a fist to his mouth looking down at the ground. I frown at him.

“Why are you apologizing? Pea, hey, come here” I tell him as I try to scoot as close to him as I can. He cannot sit here and think he forced anything on me. From what he has said and the bits that are slowly coming back I was trying to force myself on him.

“You were drunk” He tells me and tries to pull away. I tug at his arm, “Please stop.”

“Pea, you made sure I was okay, you took care of me and I was the one forcing myself on you. I’m sorry I put you in that position” I tell him and shove his arms out of the way, so he looks at me.

“I should’ve taken you home, not—”

That’s it, I swing my leg over his legs and straddle his lap. I grab his face between my hands and force him to look at me.

“If you had taken me home my dad would’ve been pissed, now accept the fact that you did good” I tell him. His gorgeous brown eyes stare right back into mine and its then that I realize I’m on his lap and inch away from his face.

“Lia, can I—”

“Yes” I whisper back before he pushes forward and kisses me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, let me know what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> Massive thank you again for reading, please leave feedback/questions/etc below!


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